Whale sign Gilroy to AHL pact

The Connecticut Whale announced today that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Matt Gilroy on an American Hockey League contract.

Gilroy, who was the 2008-09 Hobey Baker Award winner as a senior at Boston University, has skated in 194 NHL games during his three years as a pro, with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators. Last season, the 6-foot-1, 201-pound North Bellmore, N.Y., native played in 53 games with the Lightning, scoring two goals and adding 15 assists for 17 points and registering 16 penalty minutes, before being traded to the Senators on Feb. 27 in exchange for Brian Lee. In 14 games with Ottawa, Gilroy tallied one goal and two assists for three points, while serving two minutes in penalties. He also was scoreless in three postseason games with the Senators.

Prior to 2011-12, Gilroy, 28, spent his first two pro seasons with the Rangers, the Whale’s parent club, after signing as a free agent Apr. 17, 2009. In 127 games in a Ranger uniform, Gilroy notched seven goals and added 19 assists for 26 points, and posted 37 PIM. In NHL action for his career, he has totaled 10 goals and 36 assists for 46 points, along with 55 penalty minutes, in 194 outings.

Gilroy’s only previous AHL action was a five-game conditioning stint with the Hartford Wolf Pack in December 2009, in which he contributed four assists and served four PIM.